Mayor Naheed Nenshi thinks Bill Smith is worth needling. That’s often a sign that a serious opponent is on the loose.

Smith won’t even launch his campaign until Monday, but already the mayor suggests he doesn’t live in Calgary, has never held public office, and might be collecting campaign money illegally.

Smith’s a businessman and lawyer who was president of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party from 2010 to 2013, during the tumultuous terms of premiers Ed Stelmach and Alison Redford.

Those were hard-knock years when the Tories’ worst enemies were usually other Tories. Smith doesn’t have any trouble handling a few sly digs.

Asked about Smith, Nenshi said: “Oh, is that the one who coaches the Cochrane High School football team? … I hope he knows you have to live in Calgary to be mayor of Calgary.”

Smith says: “Except for a few months in 1987-88, I’ve lived in Calgary for 53-plus years, and that’s probably a little bit longer than the mayor.”

It has to be: Smith is 54 and Nenshi is 45.

Nenshi said: “I will note that he hasn’t actually registered as a candidate yet, so I hope he hasn’t done any fundraising because that would be, well, illegal.”

Smith replies: “When you’re not running yet, of course, you’re not registered, and it would be foolhardy to raise money prior to that. We haven’t raised any money. I’m not sure why that’s even an issue.”

He says he’ll register by Monday, “and we’ll see if we can get any financial support after that.”

Nenshi also says pointedly that Smith has never held public office.

Smith says: “That’s true, I haven’t. Neither had the mayor before he won.

“I’ve been around politics a lot over the years, but strictly as a volunteer, never in a paid position, and never received any benefit from being a volunteer, other than I feel that’s what you do as a Calgarian.”

Nenshi’s final needle is almost a threat to exhume old scandals: “He certainly does have a long record as the president of the PC party in the Alison Redford years, so there will be a lot to talk about.”

Smith notes his time as PC president was done long before she quit on March 19, 2014.

“We were friends prior to her being the leader, and, unfortunately, since she left we haven’t had any communication.”

Smith’s candidacy will please many Calgary conservatives. He was always a PC, but kept lines open to both sides during Jason Kenney’s run for the party leadership.

On the other hand, many voters who gravitate to Nenshi won’t want a veteran of the PC years.

The mayor is expert at motivating his base. Hence the early digs, carefully softened with a friendly nod: “I actually know him pretty well. He’s a good guy, he’s a very thoughtful guy.”

Smith doesn’t think the election will be about PC history. He feels Calgary’s future is at stake.

City hall isn’t planning for the new economy of low oil prices, he said in an interview at his Eau Claire office

“We have to set an agenda to make ourselves a great city, because at the end of the day I think we all all realize that the oil and gas sector isn’t coming back. If it does, great, but I think the reality is that we’re going to be in the $50 range for a long time.

“It’s just going to keep emptying office towers, and that has a big impact on the economy, and our tax base shrinks, so everybody has to pay more or we have to cut back.”

As for city hall, he says, “I think, as a lifelong Calgarian, that our city can do better. We’ve seen a significant increase in taxation without commensurate increase in services.

“There’s almost a dictatorial theme that comes out of the city. I’ve heard that from a lot of people who would just like some open, honest leadership.

“Front-line services are critical and we need to make sure we maintain them. But I have to say, from what I have seen, the amount of bureaucratic growth within city hall itself has added so much to our cost as a city.

“My first look would be to see what it is we can cut, what programs don’t affect the front-line services … We haven’t made those hard decisions yet. That’s one of the things we have to do. You can’t continue to pass the burden on to the taxpayers.”

Smith backs a new hockey rink as long as it doesn’t cost the taxpayers “a whack of dough.”

But he says it’s about culture and entertainment as much as hockey.

“When you look at the acts that bypass Calgary and go up to Edmonton, you really see we’re in a deficit on that. You’ve got our locals going to see shows, so the money goes into Edmonton’s economy, not ours. We need to think about this more broadly, not just as a rink for the Flames.”

Smith went very easy on Nenshi, especially after those barbs. That may change very quickly.

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If it wasn’t so darn important to our city, there’d be some degree of smug satisfaction with the awkward position in which both the premier and prime minister now find themselves embroiled in with this whole pipeline brouhaha.